Broadwaytrax.com | Kiss Me Kate Kiss Me Kate Kiss Me Kate With music and lyrics by Cole Porter, Kiss Me Kate presents a humurous twist on Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew, recounting the behind-the-scenes romances of actors staging a musical version of the play. Kiss Me Kate also won Best Musical Revival in 2000. There are 42 tracks on this album: Tracks 1-21 contain the background tracks and guide vocals; tracks 22-42 contain the accompaniment tracks alone. This album is a re-recording in the original show key and show tempo. Kiss me, Kate - Staatsoper Hannover - YouTube Kiss me, Kate - Staatsoper Hannover Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Sep 8, 2012 KISS ME, KATE Eine Produktion der Staatsoper Hannover Premiere: 8.9.2012 im Theater am Aegi Fred Graham, Regisseur, Schauspieler und Leiter einer finanziell angeschlagenen Theatertruppe, plant mit einer Version von Shakespeares Komödie »Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung« sein Comeback. Die Hauptrolle der Kate besetzt er mit Lilli Vanessi, ehemaliger Star der Truppe -- und seine Exfrau. Probleme -- auf und hinter der Bühne -- sind damit vorprogrammiert ... Ab 8. September 2012 (und nur bis zum 3. Oktober) im Theater am Aegi!

Musikalische Leitung: Benjamin Reiners | Inszenierung: Bernd Mottl | Choreographie: Kinsun Chan | Bühne: Anja Jungheinrich | Kostüme: Nicole von Graevenitz | Choreinstudierung: Dan Ratiu | Dramaturgie: Katharina Ortmann Mit: Fred Graham (Petruchio): Ulrich Allroggen | Lilli Vanessi (Katherine): Nicole Rößler | Bill Calhoun (Lucentio): Gero Wendorff | Lois Lane (Bianca): Julia Klotz | Harry Trevor (Baptista): Edgar Schäfer | Hattie, Lillis Garderobiere: Julie-Marie Sundal | Paul, Freds Garderobier: Michael Chacewicz | Harrison Howell: Roland Wagenführer | Erster Ganove: Edward Mout | Zweiter Ganove: Daniel Eggert | Gremio, erster Freier: Eric Rentmeister | Hortensio, zweiter Freier: Frank Wöhrmann Chor der Staatsoper Hannover | Ballett der Staatsoper Hannover | Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hann

over Category Shakespeare/Pop Music: Broadway - shakespeareandpopularmusic shakespeareandpopularmusic INTRODUCTION Although considered part of the classical theatrical canon today, Shakespeare's plays were an important part of the popular culture of Early Modern England.

It seems only fitting that Broadway has made these plays part of popular culture again by adapting them into musicals. Very little academic research and/or writing, however, is available on this topic. In order to remedy the situation, this page has compiled a working archive of resources on Broadway musicals based on Shakespeare's plays, in the hopes that this will generate further interest and analysis. Most of the research that went into creating this page is centered on Broadway specifically, but a list of non-Broadway musicals has also been included in order to show that this phenomenon is by no means centered in one locale. To date, this archive includes the names of twenty-two Shakespearean musical productions. These productions have been produced in the United States, England, and Prague and have been performed in numerous other countries. Shakespeare's romantic comedies are the genre of play most often adapted into musical productions. Sixteen of the twenty-two productions included in this archive are based on Shakespearean romantic comedies. The Comedy of Errors, which was the first Shakespeare play to ever be adapted into a musical, is tied with Twelfth Night for the most number of musical theatre adaptations, at four productions each (Comedy of Errors: The Boys from Syracuse, Oh, Brother!

, The Bomb-itty of Errors, and Da Boyz/Twelfth Night: Play On!, Music Is, Love and Let Love, Your Own Thing), while A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet follow close behind with three different musical theatre adaptations (A Midsummer Night's Dream: Swingin' The Dream, Babes in the Wood, and The Donkey Show: A Midsummer Night's Dream Disco/Hamlet: Rockabye Hamlet, The Lion King, and Hamlet The Rock Opera). Besides Hamlet, three other Shakespearean tragedies have been adapted into musicals: Romeo and Juliet (West-Side Story and Sensations), King Lear (Pop!) and Macbeth (From a Jack to a King). No evidence has been yet found of a history play having been turned into a musical. Popular music has also been appropriated by many of these productions.

Swing (The Brothers of Syracuse, Swingin' the Dream, Play On!) , Rock and Roll (Two Gentlemen of Verona, Rockabye Hamlet, Your Own Thing, From a Jack to a King and Hamlet The Rock Opera), Hip-Hop/Rap (The Bomb-itty of Errors and Da Boyz), and Reggae (The Big Life) are all examples of musical genres that have been appropriated by Broadway musicals - whose songs, incidentally, also sometimes become the stuff of popular music (Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, Lion King, and so forth). The fluid relationship between Shakespeare and popular music in Broadway productions deserves further consideration, as does the fact that many of these productions are using Shakespeare and popular music not simply to make money, but also to discuss issues of both race (Swingin' the Dream) and gender (Kiss Me Kate) or both (Play On!).

Theatre Royal Stratford East's 2005 production of The Big Life, for example, uses Reggae music and the plot-line of Love Labour's Lost to tell the historically true story of Caribbean immigrants who set sail for England in the 1950s on the SS Empire Windrush because they had been promised both jobs and a better life by the English government who very much needed their help to re-build after the war. Some of the questions that productions like The Big Life require academics to ask of themselves include: 1) Can popular music be used in musical adaptations of Shakespeare to talk-back to colonial/patriarchal imperatives and to de-centralize the hegemonic authority of Shakespeare's works? (And if so how are they able to do this? ); 2) Does the capitalist form of Broadway musical productions make it impossible to de-centralize power of any kind in these musical adaptations of Shakespeare? (And, if so, what are Shakespeare and popular music doing in these productions anyway? i.e. What purpose do they serve?). Hopefully, the information that follows below will help to stimulate interest in these questions and, perhaps, even help to generate a few more. Enjoy!

SHAKESPEARE MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS ON BROADWAY The Muppets and Christopher Reeve sing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from Kiss Me Kate Creative Team: Music by Richard Rogers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, Book by George Abbott. Date/Location: November 23, 1938 - June 10, 1939 at Alvin Theatre. (235 Performances). SYNOPSIS: Based on The Comedy of Errors, this is the first known musical production of one of Shakespeare's play. The play was originally devised by Roger and Hart to showcase the talents of Hart's comedian younger brother, Teddy, who looked a lot like another well-known comedian, Jimmy Savo. Both Teddy Hart and Jimmy Savo starred in the production as the twins Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse. The plot is relatively faithful to Shakespeare's original (itself an adaption of a play by Plautus) and the play's score is influenced by 1930's swing music. The humour in the play, which was often sexual in nature, was critiqued at the time for being obscene.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY: The play was revived once off-Broadway (Theatre Four: April 15, 1963 - June 28, 1964) and once on Broadway (American Airlines Theatre: July 23, 2002 - August 18, 2002). It was also made into a movie in 1940 (Universal Studios Film) and into a television production in 1986 (Canadian Broadcast Company). In 2003 the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London premiered a hip-hop adaptation of The Boys From Syracuse called Da Boyz. Broadway Revival Info: Film Production Info: The Mamas & The Papas sing "Sing For Your Supper" from The Boys of Syracuse Documentary about 2007 Northwestern University Re-Make of The Boys from Syracuse Producer: Erik Charrell in association with Jean Rodney. Creative Team: Music by Jimmy Van Heusen, Lyrics by Eddie de Lange, Book by Gilbert Seldes and Eri Charrell. Date/Location: November 29, 1939 - December 9, 1939 at Center Theatre. (13 Performances).

SYNOPSIS: Starring Louis Armstrong as Bottom, this musical version of a Midsummer's Night Dream is set in 1890's New Orleans, where the action of the plays moves from the Governor's Mansion to the Voodoo Wood. White actors were cast in the roles of the aristocracy, whereas black actors were cast to play the roles of the fairies and mechanicals. Very little is known about the script, as only a small segment of it has survived, but the songs, similar to The Boys From Syracuse, were influenced by 1930's swing music. The segment of the script that has survived can be found at the following link: . Corrigan, Alan. "Jazz, Shakespeare, and Hybridity: A Script Excerpt from Swinging The Dream." Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal for Shakespeare Appropriation. 1.1 (2005). Online. Teague, Fran. "Swingin' Shakespeare from Harlem to Broadway." Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal for Shakespeare Appropriation. 1.1. (2005). Online. Producer: Saint Subber and Lemuel Ayers.

Creative Team: Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter, Book by Bella Spewack and Samuel Spewack. Date/Location: December 30, 1948 - July 28, 1950 at New Century Theatre and July 31, 1950 - July 28, 1951 at Shubert Theatre (1077 Performances). SYNOPSIS : Featuring songs by Cole Porter, this musical adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew was nominated for (and won) six Tony Awards when it premiered on Broadway, including the award for Best Musical. Written as an attempt to mimic the new genre of the integrated musical (which was developed by Roger and Hammerstein in their musical Oklahoma!) the play features a play-within-a-play where the drama on-stage mirrors the real-life drama going on off-stage. Featuring a well-known scene, where the male protagonist, Fred Graham, turns the female protagonist, Lilli Vanessi, over his knee and spanks her in an effort to tame his un-ruly ex-wife, Kiss Me Kate has been critiqued by feminists scholars for romanticizing acts of violence towards women.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY: The play was revived on Broadway twice (January 8, 1952 - January 12, 1952 at Broadway Theatre and November 18, 1999 - December 30, 2001 at Martin Beck Theatre). It was also made into a film adaptation in 1953 (MGM) and was adapted twice for television, once in 1958 for Hallmark Hall of Fame and once in 1968 for the American Broadcast Company (ABC). The 1999 play revival was filmed by The Performance Company in 2003 and was presented as part of PBS' Great Performances series on February 26, 2003. Christensen, Ann C. "Petruchio's House in Postwar Surburbia: Reinventing the Domestic Woman (Again)." 17.1. (1997): 28-42. Print. William, Paul. "Breaking the Fourth Wall: 'Belascoism', Modernism, and a 3-D Kiss Me Kate." Film History. 16.3.

(2004): 229 - 242. Print. 2nd Broadway Revival Info: Film Production Info: Hallmark Hall of Fame Info: ABC Production Info: PBS Production Info: Trailer for Film Version of Kiss Me Kate (1953) Part 1 of PBS Special of 1999 Revival of Kiss Me Kate Producer: Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince. Creative Team: Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Arthur Laurents, Conceived by Jerome Robbins. Date/Location: September 26, 1957 - February 28, 1959 at Winter Garden Theatre, March 2, 1959 - May 10, 1959 at Broadway Theatre, and May 11, 1959 - June 27, 1959 at Winter Garden Theate (732 Performances). SYNOPSIS: Based on Romeo and Juliet, this play is a response to actual historical events that were going on in the United States at the time of the play's inception.

Specifically it was a response to an escalation of gang violence in New York due, in part, to widespread immigration of Puerto Ricans to New York in the 1950's. Featuring songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, this play won Best Musical at the Tony Awards in 1958. PERFORMANCE HISTORY: The play was revived four times on Broadway (April 27, 1960 - December 10, 1960 at the Winter Garden and the Alvin Theatre, April 8, 1964 - May 3, 1964 at the City Center, February 14, 1980 - November 30, 1980 Minskoff Theatre, and March 19, 2009 - Present at the Palace Theatre). It was made into a movie in 1961 (United Artists). Original Production Info: PRODUCTION INFO: Producer: Mitchell Maxwell, Eric Nederlander, Thomas Hall, Hal Luftwig, Bruce Lucker, Mike Skipper, and Victoria Maxwell. Creative Team: Book by Cheryl L. West with Songs by Duke Ellington.

Date/Location: March 20, 1997 - May 11, 1997 at Brooks Atkinson Theatre. (61 Performances.) SYNOPSIS: Set in the Magical Kingdom of Harlem in the 1940's, this adaptation of Twelfth Night tells the story of Vi, a young woman from the country who dresses up as a man upon arriving in New York to enhance her chances of gaining employment. Vi eventually gains employment with a man named Duke, who is in love with a lounge singer named Lady Liv. The play features songs written by Duke Ellington and Duke Ellington's granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, provided the choreography for the production. PERFORMANCE HISTORY: The play was originally produced at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in 1997 before being produced on Broadway. PBS aired a performance of the play as part of its Great Performances Series in 2000. Producer: Disney Theatrical Productions. Creative Team: Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Tim Rice, and Book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi. Date/Location: November 13, 1997 - Present at New Amsterdam Theatre and Minskoff Theatre.

SYNOPSIS: The Lion King is Julie Taymor's re-envisioning of the Disney movie by the same name, which borrows many of its plots elements from Hamlet. Besides the musical score, written by Elton John and Tim Rice, the most notable aspect of this production is Taymor's use of masks and puppets. The Lion King won the 1998 Tony Award for best musical, as well as four other Tonys for best direction, costume design, set design, lighting design and choreography. Gavin, Rosemarie. "The Lion King and Hamlet: A Homecoming for the Exiled Child." English Journal. 85.3. (1996): 55-58. Print. Modenessi, Alfredo Michel. "Disney's War Efforts: The Lion King and Education for Death, or Shakespeare Made Easy for your Apocalyptic Convenience." Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of Language and Literature. 49. (2005): 397-415. Online. (Note that a more recent version of this essay has been published in Apocalyptic Shakespeares, eds. Caroline Jess Cook and Melissa Croteau.

Jefferson N.C and London: McFarland Publishers, 2009: 181-196. Print). The essay focuses primarily on the film. Wickstrom, Maurya. "Commodities, Mimesis, and The Lion King: Retail Theatre for the 1990's." Theatre Journal. 51.2. (1999): 285-299. Print. Part 1 of Documentary About the Making of the Lion King Other Productions Original Production Info: Oh, Brother! is based on The Comedy of Errors. November 10, 1981 - November 11, 1981 at ANTA Playhouse. Original Production Info: SHAKESPEARE MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS OFF BROADWAY Off-Broadway 1. As You Like It based on As You Like It. October 27, 1964 - October 27, 1964 at Lucille Lortel Theatre. Production Info: 2. Babes in the Wood based on A Midsummer Night's Dream.

December 28, 1964 - February 7, 1965 at Orpheum Theatre. Production Info: 3. Love and Let Love based on Twelfth Night. January 03, 1968 - January 14, 1968 at Sheridan Square Playhouse. Production Info: 4. Your Own Thing based on Twelfth Night. January 13, 1968 - April 5, 1970 at Orpheum Theatre. Production Info: 5. Sensations based on Romeo and Juliet. October 25, 1970-November 8, 1970 at Theatre Four. Production Info: 6. Pop! based on King Lear. April 3, 1974 - April 3, 1974 at Players Theatre. Production Info: 7. Return to the Forbidden Planet based on The Tempest. October 13, 1971 - April 26, 1992 at Variety Arts Theatre. Production Info: 8. The Donkey Show: A Midsummer's Night Disco based on A Midsummer Night's Dream.

April 18, 1999 - July 16, 2005. Production Info: 9. The Bomb-itty of Errors based on The Comedy of Errors. December 12, 1999 - June 18, 2000 at 45 Bleecker/Bleecker Street Theatre. Production Info: and Rap Prologue to The Bomb-Itty of Errors West-End 1. From a Jack to a King based on Macbeth at Boulevard Theatre and Ambassadors Theatre (1992). 2. Da Boyz based on The Comedy of Errors at Theatre Royal Stratford East (2003). 3. The Big Life based on Love's Labour Lost at Theatre Royal Stratord East (2005). Scene from The Big Life at Theatre Royal Stratford East (2005) Elsewhere 1. Hamlet The Rock Opera based on Hamlet at the Kalich Theatre in Prague (1999). Interview with Jared Ledecky Creator of Hamlet The Rock Opera Hamlet The Rock Opera in Czech Hamlet The Rock Opera in English Christensen, Ann C.

"Petruchio's House in Postwar Surburbia: Reinventing the Domestic Woman (Again)." 17.1. (1997): 28-42. Print. This article discusses the 1953 film adaptation of "Kiss Me Kate" in relation to the re-domestication of women in post-war American suburbia. After the war, women who worked in factories were forced to vacate their positions for returning soldiers. They were expected, in turn, to marry these soldiers and because suburban housewives. Corrigan, Alan. "Jazz, Shakespeare, and Hybridity: A Script Excerpt from Swinging The Dream." Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal for Shakespeare Appropriation. 1.1 (2005). Online. This article includes a script excerpt from a little known musical adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" starring Louis Armstrong in the role of Bottom. The production only lasted for thirteen performances and most of the script has not survived. Along with the script excerpt, the essay also contains embedded mp3 clips of some of the songs from the show as well as photos of the production. Negron-Munater, Frances.

"Feeling Pretty: West Side Story and Puerto Rican Identity Discourses." Social Text.18.2. (2000): 83-106. Print. This article problematizes the depiction of the Puerto Rican immigrant community of New York in the film version of "West Side Story." The article discusses the fact that the play's creators did very little research before devising the production and that Stephen Sondheim at first was opposed to the idea because he felt that he could not relate to the experiences of the characters that he was writing about. Miller, D. "West Side Story." Theatre Journal. 61.3. (2009): 479-481. Print This is a scholarly review of the 2009 Broadway revival of "West Side Story," which attempted to deal with some of the criticisms against the original work by casting actors of Puerto Rican descent in the roles of the Puerto Rican characters and by translating some of the play's lyrics into Spanish. Sanders, Julie. Shakespeare and Music: Afterlives and Borrowings. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007. Print.

Julie Sanders' book is an excellent introduction to anyone interested not only in musical adaptations of Shakespeare on Broadway, but also Shakespeare and popular music throughout history. It contains chapters/information on Shakespeare and Jazz Music, Shakespeare and Classical Music, Shakespeare and the Ballet, Shakespeare and Film Scores/Movie Songs, Shakespeare and the Opera, and Shakespeare and Musicals. Most of the information she provides is simply factual. There is very little attempt by Sanders at deeper analysis and she analyzes Shakespeare films with musical numbers and musical adaptations of Shakespeare together which is confusing and also a little bit naive. Nevertheless, if you do not know much about the topic and are interested in learning more, this is a good place to start. Teague, Frances. Shakespeare and the American Popular Stage. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. This is a fascinating and well researched book that mainly focuses on American musical adaptations of Shakespeare. It also provides information about Shakespeare on the American popular stage before the invention of the stage musical. Especially interesting is Teague's discussion of the use of Shakespeare in Vaudeville and how this inclusion of the high-brow into the low-brow highlights societal tensions that were created in America by the rise of the middle-class.

Teague, Fran. "Swingin' Shakespeare from Harlem to Broadway." Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal for Shakespeare Appropriation. 1.1. (2005). Online. This essay contains a plot outline of the Broadway musical "Play On!", which premiered on Broadway in1997 after enjoying a more successful run at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. As well as an outline of the script, the essay contains photos and embedded mp3 tracks from the musical, which appropriates the music of Duke Ellington to score the story of a young woman named Vi, who travels to the Magical Kingdom of Harlem in the 1940's looking for work. The essay also, briefly, compares the 1997 production of "Play On!" to the 1939 production of "Swingin' the Dream," which starred Louis Armstrong in the role of Bottom and actually used the talents of swing/jazz musicians from the Harlem Renaissance. William, Paul. "Breaking the Fourth Wall: 'Belascoism', Modernism, and a 3-D Kiss Me Kate." Film History. 16.3. (2004): 229 - 242. Print.

According to the abstract, this article "focuses on the effect of the 3-D motion picture "Kiss Me Kate" directed by George Sidney, released in 1953, had on the motion picture industry." William states that this is one of the last films to be produced using the old stereoscopic process of 3D films, which was originally designed to increase audience participation with the media but which eventually became a commercial gimmick used rarely in the film industry (Note: This article was written before the release of "Avatar" ). LINKS This website is a "peer-reviewed, online, multimedia Shakespeare journal" (website) and is also a great resource for anyone interested in the study of Shakespeare and Popular Music. As well as containing articles on musical adaptations of Shakespeare's works, issues of the journal (which are all archived online) contain articles on Shakespeare and Jazz, Shakespeare and Rap, and Shakespeare and Country Music. This is the official website of "Hamlet The Rock Opera" which is a musical that was developed and written (both book, music, and lyrics) by Czech composer Janek Ledecky.

In 1999, the musical opened in Prague in the brand new Kalich Theatre (which was built specifically for the play). It was a huge success, running for 650 performances. "Hamlet The Rock Opera" has since been produced in Slovakia, in Korea, and in the United States (in translation). The website contains information in English on the play's history, design, music, and author, as well as photos, music clips and video clips from the production. This is the official website of PBS's "Great Performances Series," which is a "continuing primetime performance on showcase on American television" that "bring the best in the performing arts across America and around the world to a US [and Canadian] television audience" (website). On February 26, 2003 "Great Performances" aired a filmed version of the 1999 Broadway revival of "Kiss Me Kate." Information about this television performance, the 1999 Broadway revival, and the original production of "Kiss Me Kate" can be found at this website, which also includes information for educators and an Encyclopedia of Composers and Songwriters.

This is the official website of the musical "The Bomb-itty of Errors," which has enjoyed a successful run off-Broadway (1999), as well as successful production in Chicago, London, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This website contains information on the play's authors and current productions, as well as video clips, photos, and reviews. This is an excellent information for anyone interested in the study of Broadway musicals. This website allows users to search for information by show, people, organizations, theatres, or season and contains on producers, locations (theatre spaces), production runs, revivals, awards, cast and crew lists, song lists, and musical recordings for original Broadway productions. The website search engine, however, is not as intelligent as Google is so be careful of your spelling when you try to look up a production. This is IMDB website that most internet users are familiar with. It is useful for gaining just the basic information (name of director, cast, release dates etc.) of film productions that are based on Shakespeare musicals or to look up basic information about film productions in general.

This website allows users to look up similar information that they would be able to look up in The Internet Broadway database but for off-Broadway productions (in New York) instead. This website contains the same issues with its search engine that was mentioned above for the Internet Broadway Database. This is the official website of The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, where the musical "Play On!" was first produced before it was produced on Broadway in 1999. The website is mainly used as a forum for ticket-sales, but it does contain minimal information about past productions under its History webpage. This is the official website of Theatre Royal Stratford East (in London, England) which has produced two recent musical adaptations of Shakespeare's works, "Da Boys" based on "The Comedy of Errors" in 2003 and "The Big Life" based on "Love's Labour Lost" in 2005. The website contains no information of the first production in its online archive (which only goes back to 2004), but the online archive does contain a brief synopsis of "The Big Life." Much like the website of The Old Globe Theatre, however, this website is also mainly a vehicle for ticket-sales to current productions.

LESSON PLANS For information on how to teach Shakespeare to students by having them develop their own musical production of a Shakespearean text, click on Lesson Plans - Broadway for more information. This page contains three lesson plans (one for Language Arts, one for Music, and one for Drama) that are designed to introduce Grade 6 students to Romeo and Juliet. They can easily be adapted, however, to teach other plays or grade levels. All lesson plans on this website are based on the curriculum guidelines developed by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Broadwaytrax.com | Brush Up Your Shakespeare Brush Up Your Shakespeare Brush Up Your Shakespeare accompaniment track from Kiss Me Kate Cole Porters Kiss Me Kate presents a humurous twist on Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew, recounting the behind-the-scenes romances of actors staging a musical version of the play. This is the accompaniment track for the song Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Kiss Me Kate Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 34 out of 35 people found the following review useful: What An Absolutely 'Wunderbar' Way to 'Brush Up Your Shakespeare'!

from United Kingdom 15 October 2002 KISS ME KATE is quite easily one of the two most famous musical 'adaptations' of Shakespeare for the stage and screen (the other being WEST SIDE STORY). Focusing on a theatre company putting up a musical version of 'The Taming of The Shrew', the film traces the main relationship between director/leading man Fred Graham (Howard Keel) and his ex-wife/leading lady Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson) as they respectively portray the Shakespearean roles of Petruchio and Katherine (the Shrew to be tamed, of course!). Throw in a deliciously naughty second lead actress Lois Lane (Ann Miller) and her gambling-addict beau Bill Calhoun (Tommy Rall), as well as a couple of gangsters (played brilliantly by Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore) mistakenly chasing after Fred 'sweetie' for Bill's latest debt, and opening night proves to be quite a big event, both onstage and off. Can the feuding Fred and Lilli, still in love with each other despite Fred's ego and Lilli's fiance, get their act together before the curtain goes down on the play?

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film... yes, even having already seen the London stage version of the musical earlier this year. There are, of course, personal reasons that bias me towards the film and to perhaps set out watching it with every intention of liking it (which surely helps!). First of all, I have no qualms in admitting I'm probably the biggest Ann Miller fan there is, and there's no doubting also that KISS ME KATE is possibly the best showcase of her talents and beauty there is. Secondly, I've been listening to the film soundtrack on constant repeat for months now, influenced by an interest kindled by the musical and discovering Miller. It helps that I can sing along to most of the songs and know the lyrics--no struggling to figure out what Grayson is singing in her operatic voice, and no attempting to acclimatise to new tunes. I already know the Cole Porter music, from lyrics to tune to score, and love it. So yes, perhaps I *was* predisposed to loving this film--how could I *not*, particularly with Miller dancing and singing my favourite songs in the film?

Still, I firmly believe that there's a lot more to recommend KISS ME KATE than the ravings of a fangirl. Cole Porter really outdoes himself here with a toe-tappingly catchy score: even songs like 'I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua' and 'We Open In Venice' have the same sparkling lyrics, the same ability to catch the ear as the better-known 'Wunderbar' and 'From This Moment On'. Then there's the jazz-influenced 'Too Darn Hot' and the sweet ballad 'Why Can't You Behave?'. I honestly believe that Porter's score for KISS ME KATE is better than the one he wrote for HIGH SOCIETY, because he makes fine use of reprisals and bridges. Take for example Rall singing a short reprisal of Miller's 'Why Can't You Behave?' back to her before she replies with a wonderful segue into 'Always True To You In My Fashion'--the reprisal marks the couple and the relationship and works wonderfully well. Of course, it helps also that the cast for KISS ME KATE is really most impressive.

Keel, with his big big voice and untrained natural talent, fills the screen (and his tights!) with his masculine presence. He struts, swaggers, and yet shows his vulnerable side believably enough to make us *like* his character, ego or no ego. Grayson, so much weaker against Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in ANCHORS AWEIGH a decade earlier, really comes into her own here--she's excellent as Lilli, swooning at the right moments, strident during the rest, and actually bites out 'I Hate Men' with conviction... you certainly wouldn't imagine it possible of the actress who gave us the rather simpering Aunt Susie in the aforementioned Kelly/Sinatra film! I'm also partial to Tommy Rall, whose soaring athletic ability just crackles off the screen. It's such a thrill to see Miller get matched with someone who can dance circles around most everyone else alongside her. They make the cutest couple in their two numbers together, with the energetic, exuberant dance to 'Why Can't You Behave?' definitely making one of my favourite film dance routines of all time.

This film is, of course, Miller's shining moment--a shame, considering she's still only second lead and yet really steals the film with her dancing and singing. I can understand why other reviewers don't like that the song 'Too Darn Hot' became a solo for her, but what works on the stage, quite frankly, won't have made it in the film. (Even in the musical I thought the song a rather inauspicious and irrelevant start to the second act.) Miller's 'Too Darn Hot' fandance tap is precisely what the title suggests, and the charm she always radiates in all her small roles sizzles through her sexy fringed costume and black lace fan as she dances all over the furniture. One of my favourite songs is also the *unbelievably* catchy 'Tom, Dick & Harry', and the version in the film is great fun. The directing by George Sidney is solid, making the best of the choreography.

Any apparently odd choices would have to be explained by the fact that the film was originally filmed in 3-D--imagine Miller's gloves and necklace flying into your lap, or the objects on the tavern table crashing off the screen when Grayson sweeps them off (while despising men, of course!). I really wish I could have the chance to see this film the way it was meant to be seen, in 3-D. Unfortunately, there's no way to get that effect on VHS and probably not DVD either. Even so, KISS ME KATE is bright, splashy, flashy and colourful. It's breathtakingly happy eye-candy and drags only at a few moments when non-Shakespearean dialogue gets in the way. Considering the cleverness of its concept (it's a film about the staging of a musical version of the Shakespearean play), the film has little to no artistic pretension--in this way, it's a quintessential MGM musical... set, geared, intended to *entertain*. And entertain it does.

With the vocal talents of Keel and Grayson, the incredible tapping of Miller and the soaring of Rall, all accompanied by an irresistible Porter score, let's hope this one makes it to DVD; it's definitely a keeper! Was the above review useful to you? 29 out of 30 people found the following review useful: If you are a dance fan from United States 1 July 2004 This is my favorite musical, not for the dancing alone, but it is the best. The dancers, not just Ann Miller and Rall, but Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, and Carol Haney!! What more could any dance fan want? There is always something new to see, no matter how many times you have watched it. The lyrics are magnificent, tricky and intriguing. When Howard Keel, dressed in those gorgeous tights, sings about all the women he has known, he's a knockout. Grayson is not my favorite actress, but she can sing, and she and Keel make a wonderful pair. I will admit that the music is great, but folks, catch the dancing!! The final dance number with the six dancers is superb, but how can you watch all six at once?

You have to watch it several times, particularly the pair of Carol Haney and Bob Fosse. Was the above review useful to you? 29 out of 32 people found the following review useful: Kiss Me, Kate Is Still Great! from Cincinnati, Ohio 2 March 2004 Kiss Me, Kate was first released at the time that the movie screens were exploading into large formats to get people away from their T.V. sets and back into the theaters, and 3-D films came out of hiding and the only musical film to be shot in the 3-D format was Kiss Me, Kate, and stereophonic sound, to me, was better in those days than it is today, but the film gave everyone in it the chance to do their finest work, but it's a shame that they will not release a 3-D Version of this film on Home Video. The distributors would make a fortune! Everyone knows the plot of Kiss Me, Kate, so there's no sense in going into that.

Kathryn Grayson, Hollywood's finest singer of all time replaced Patricia Morrison who played Lilli on Broadway, and Howard Keel replaced Alfred Drake who played Fred Graham on Broadway, and Ann Miller replaced Lisa Kirk who played Lois on Broadway, and it's not too well known but Lisa Kirk dubbed Everything's Coming Up Roses for Rosalind Russell in the movie version of Gypsy! Tommy Rall who replaced Harold Lang in the Broadway version, to me, was never given a fair chance in Hollywood. An excellent singer and versatile dancer, but still he shines in his work in Kiss Me, Kate and for his work in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as the brother Frank who got upset when he was called by his real name. This movie is a good example as to why Broadway stars are not necessarily good for repeating their Broadway roles on the screen. The cast in this movie is excellent in their acting, singing and dancing and I can not picture the Broadway cast repeating their roles in the movie version. To me, it just wouldn't work!

Casting Ann Miller in the role of Lois Lane was a good break for Ann Miller since she was always given roles in past movies that showed her off as a gal who had an overly-obnoxious appetite for the opposite sex. This film gave her a chance to display her full range of talent which had in the past been overlooked, but what can a person say about her number Too Darn Hot that burned up the screen and made Lilli [Kathryn Grayson] furious with her co-star Fred-er-rick Gray-ham [Howard Keel] to the point that she called him a louse of stage in front of the cast in the play! She couldn't call him what Patricia Morrison called Alfred Drake in the Broadway play because in those days the Hayes Office wouldn't allow Kathryn Grayson to call Howard Keel a ba****d! Keenyn Wynn and James Whitmore played the comical gangsters that were to collect a marker from Howard Keel which was really signed by Tommy Rall and when they do their number Brush Up Your Shakespeare, it's hilarious.

Not because Wynn can't sing and dance, he can, but because James Whitmore gave it all he could, but faked the number beautifully, and Whitmore had the good sense never to perform in a musical ever again, but together they were excellent in their comedic performance as the gangsters in the film. So, you guys who distribute this movie - give us guys and gals a break and release this in the original wide-screen 3-D version with stereophonic sound and let everyone see why: KISS ME KATE - IS "STILL" GREAT! Was the above review useful to you? 18 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Ann Miller Deserved an Oscar from United States 30 October 2005 Total delight from start to finish, this witty, musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. This show within a show is bright and splashy and boasts terrific performances, songs, dancing, and costumes. Howard Keel plays the egotistic Fred Graham who us mounting this new musical with ex-wife Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson) as his leading lady. The battling couple mirrors the battling couple in the play. All very clever.

As good as Grayson and Keel as however, Ann Miller totally steals the show as Lois Lane, the brassy chorus girl Fred has given a part (the younger sister) in the play. Mills is fantastic as she sings and dances her way through some great numbers: It's Too Darn Hot, From This Moment On, Always True to You, and Tom, Dick or Harry. Her opening number of Too Darn Hot is astounding as she swirls and taps around Cole POrter's living room and across his table tops. The skin tight tassled red outfit is probably the sexiest outfit Miller ever wore and she looks great. She was always denied the starring roles in MGM musicals which is a shame. MGM preferred the more demure types like Grayson or Judy Garland, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds for starring roles and Miller always got stuck playing the flashy friend or other woman. Also good in this great musical are Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore as the thugs who get to sing Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, and Tommy Rall are the three dancers. Carol Haney and Jeanne Coyne show up for the From This Moment On number with Miller and the Boys.

Ann Codee is the maid, Claude Allister is the butler, Willard Parker is Tex, Dave O'Brien is the stage manager, Kurt Kaznar is the stage father, and Ron Randell plays Cole Porter. Originally done in 3-D, Kiss Me Kate is shock full of great songs and some of the best lyrics ever heard. For those of us growing up in the 50s, most of the songs from this musical are familiar hits, including Wunderbar, From This Moment On, Always True to You, and So In Love. Kiss Me Kate is a textbook musical that works on all levels. Keel and Grayson were never better, Miller is outstanding, Whitmore and Wynn are fun, and Tommy Rall gets a couple of dance numbers (My Can't You Behave) that prove him to be one of the best dancers of his generation. The short dance solo with Fosse and Haney also presages much of Fosse's later groundbreaking choreography. Not a false step in this film, which ranks as one of the great musicals. Was the above review useful to you?

19 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Wiving It Wealthily In Padua from Buffalo, New York 18 July 2007 Though some would now argue for A Chorus Line, I believe that Kiss Me Kate is the greatest of backstage musical stories. That's because when Cole Porter took a collaborator, he took the best, the Poet that keeps 'em ravin', the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon. When Porter was approached to collaborate with Samuel and Bella Spewack about doing a show based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, he had hit a dry spell creatively. He had not had a decent Broadway hit in several years and according to the George Eells biography of him, was pretty tense throughout the gestation period. He also did not have the best of relations with the Spewacks. It was all forgotten when Kiss Me Kate had the biggest Broadway run of any of his show, 1077 performances and probably yielded more hit songs for him than any other production. It missed getting the Tony Award for Best Musical by another show that opened that season, South Pacific. Most of that score remained intact for the MGM musical.

One additional one from Porter's succeeding Broadway musical, Out of this World was added as a number for Tommy Rall, Bob Fosse, and Bobby Van, From This Moment On. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson as the leads sing the classic Porter hits, So In Love and Wunderbar with gusto and feeling. Kiss Me Kate is one of the most difficult of musicals to act because you have to be good enough to act two roles simultaneously. The players have to be able to keep their backstage personas as they are speaking the lines from The Taming of the Shrew and have to do that convincingly also. Which is why I consider Kiss Me Kate one of the greatest of the Arthur Freed musicals. The backstage story is nothing new. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson were once married to each other and are still So In Love, but she doesn't realize it. Keel has cast her in this musical adaption he's also directing of The Taming of the Shrew. Their story is worked rather nicely into the opening night of the production. Also the story of flirtatious Ann Miller and Tommy Rall who's incurred a gambling debt to some gangsters also gets worked into opening night.

Rall signs Keel's name to an IOU and Keel who thinks fast on his feet uses that bit of deception to his own advantage. Which brings me to those two lovable torpedoes, Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore, who get into the play and later get to sing one of Cole Porter's best satirical numbers and a personal favorite of mine, Brush Up Your Shakespeare. It's their own ode to their theatrical experience and also advice to the lovelorn that if you want to win the mate of your choice, learn the classics so you can wow them with rhetoric. Wynn and Whitmore are priceless. I also remember years ago Orson Welles was the guest star on a Dean Martin show and Welles and Dino did a pretty hilarious version of this song. Of course it being a Cole Porter show, the more risqué lines of the lyrics are censored somewhat. Check both the original Broadway cast album and the album MGM did from the film and see what I mean. I do so love this show and this film. It was originally done in 3-D and ought to be seen that way in a theater if possible. Was the above review useful to you?

11 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Two excellent numbers deserve more credit. from United States 30 April 2004 This movie is quite the best musical of the 50's, with more plot and excellent sideplay and bits. Of these bits, my favorites are Howard Keel's rendition of "Where Is the Life that Late I Led", and Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore's clever presentation of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". Either one could stand alone, but when added to the dancing of Ann Miller, Bob Fosse, Bobby Van and Carol Chaney, you have a real winner. Very clever and upbeat. Kathryn Grayson was never a favorite of mine, but she is acceptable as Lily, and her number "I Hate Men" is a real winner. You know, this movie has so many excellent songs that it is very hard to pick just a few. "Always True to You, Darling, in my Fashion", "Tom, Dick and Harry"--Cole Porter was at the top of his form for this movie. Was the above review useful to you? 11 out of 13 people found the following review useful: A vibrant musical delight.

from Baltimore, Maryland 25 February 2000 Great adaptation of the Broadway musical with a wonderful Cole Porter score. Yes the plot is just an excuse (though not a flimsy one) to put the numbers together, but so what? Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel are very good as battling exes who are destined to be together, in the best tradition of Scarlett and Rhett, with a dash of His Girl Friday thrown in. Plus, it's all acted out amidst Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, which provides for some great comic moments. Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore as the two gangsters are hilarious in the classic "Brush Up Your Shakespeare." Bob Fosse, who plays Bianca's blond suitor in the "Shrew" play-within-a-play, electrifies the screen with Carol Haney in their short but spectacular dance during the "From This Moment On" number. But it is Ann Miller who steals the show with her tradmark perkiness, charm and dynamite dancing skills, demonstrated memorably in another classic, "Too Darn Hot," and her numbers with Tommy Rall.

Definitly recommended if you want a laugh, a tune to hum and a great show to see. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 12 people found the following review useful: One GREAT MGM Musical from United States 17 February 2004 The movie is not the same as the stage production but it stands on its own as one of the best MGM musicals of the era. Howard Keel and Katherine Grayson were never better in any other of their films; Ann Miller is her usual energetic and delightful self, plus you get to see some superb dancers who made very few films at all, and they are all at the top of their form: Tommy Rall, Jeannie Coyne, Bob Fosse, Carol Haney and Bobby Van. The big closing number, From This Moment On, is a showcase for those five dancers plus Miller...look out for Fosse and Haney's amazing hipster/be-bop flavored segment! That song was added to the movie from another Porter show and it is the highlight of this great movie! Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Ah...

from USA 4 March 1999 What great stars! Keel and Grayson are excellent in this, with the lovely song So In Love, among many others. Tommy Rall is underused. He was in the same amount of numbers as the marvelous Ann Miller, but got minimum screen time, with the exception of Why Can't You Behave. Ann Miller was nothing short of awesome, with four numbers and ample attention in all of them. Too Darn Hot, Tom Dick or Harry, Why Can't You Behave, Always True To You In My Fashion, and From This Moment On (to a lesser degree) belong to her. A perfect movie for her fans. I urge you, run, don't walk to the nearest video store and pray that they have KISS ME KATE! Was the above review useful to you?

5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Brilliant and Hilarious Musical 27 December 2007 *** This review may contain spoilers *** When Cole Porter hands his latest show, a jazzy and up beat adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew' to Broadway Director and egocentric thespian Fred Graham, he could never have imagined the chaos it would cause. Firstly Fred, who naturally wants to play the lead, employs Lili, his bitter and vindictive ex-wife to play opposite him, despite the fact that they absolutely loathe one another. Secondly, cast in the role of his ex-wife's younger sister is Lois, a beautiful and sexy nightclub dancer who shares a mutual attraction with Fred. If this little love triangle isn't enough to ensure a troublesome and acrimonious performance, then the casting of Lois' boyfriend Bill at forth billing is the sour icing on an already festering cake.

But still thats not all, as when Bill, a no good gambler, spends the entire last day of rehearsal running up a $2,000 debt with a local racketeer, he exacts a special revenge on Fred, by signing his love rivals name on the IOU. However in the true style of the accomplished trooper , The Show must go on, although the issues between the four main cast are not left behind in the dressing room as ad libbed dialogue, physical violence and quiet side remarks all make their way into the finished performance as do two gangsters sent by the racketeer to recover 'Fred's' Debt. To see the domestic issues played out in Shakespearian costume and dialogue is a real treat and the four main stars of the film, Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Miller and Tommy Rall all handle their parts extremely well, but special mention to Keenan Wynne and James Whitmore as the two gangsters who in order to get their money are forced to don wigs, tights and frequent comical Shakespearisms to their thick New York accents. However there is only one real star of this film and that's Cole Porter (and I don't mean the actor playing him).

His great tunes and his clever sophisticated lyrics were second to none in the annuls of early 20th Century music and his offerings in Kiss Me Kate are no exception. If he had just written this musical and no other, he would still be considered the best. Too Darn Hot, So In Love, Wunderbar, Tom, Dick and Harry, I Hate Men and the excellent Life that Late I Lead are all showstoppers and a testament to his considerable talent as a song-smith. The film itself was originally shot and released in the new 3-D gimmick in an effort to prise the old cinema audience back from their new fangled television sets. However before CGI effects the most impressive 3-D effect they could muster was members of the cast constantly tossing things into the audience. A banana, A tankard, a head scarf etc and after about the seventeenth time it became rather boring and old hat. Despite this I have only ever seen the the normal version and the film is funny and entertaining enough to stand on it's own 2-D feet so there was no real need for the gimmick at all. Give this one a go. Its great. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 7:

Question: Kiss Me Kate is a musical version of which of Shakespeare's works?
Answer: The Taming of the Shrew